How do you like to sort and place your books on your shelves?  Have you seen this delightful article by Matt Blake entitled "What the way you arrange your bookshelves says about you" (9 Jan 2020)?  (See Penguin.co.uk)  The following six bookshelf 'tribes' were identified, ranging from alphabetical order to colour-coding to stack 'n' pack, and include personality quotes from Blake.

1. ALPHABETICAL

What it says about you: "You’re a voracious reader who wants to find any book in your (probably vast) collection quickly." In other words, " [I]t shows you’re someone who cares deeply about books and wants to know exactly where they are at all times: Jane Austen to the left, Benjamin Zephaniah to the right. Simple." 

2. By genre

What it says about you: "You’re cultured, you’re interesting, you know a lot about a lot."  In other words, "You’ve got a broad mind, and the shelves to prove it."  Blake also suggests coming up with your own categories, such as  'Books with Happy Endings'; 'Hopeful non-fiction'; or 'Horrors Where the Villain’s an Animal'. 

3.  Colour-coded

 What it says about you: "You’re a visual thinker with a creative eye. And lots of time on your hands."

4. CHRONOLOGICAL

Explanatory comment: "[T]his does not mean organising your books by publication date. No, the challenge is to turn your shelf into a literary timeline arranging them by period in which they are set, decade by decade, era by era."   

What it says about you: "You know your history. You have an academic bent. You’re the person your friends text under the table when they're at a pub quiz."   

5.  By Value

Explanatory comment: Value is "not literally by how much you paid for each book, but by how much each is of value to you...the first editions, the signed copies, the books that changed your life..."

 What it says about you: "Books have shaped you and are the trophies of your past. You may also be a touch sentimental."  

6. STACK 'N' PACK

Explanatory comment: "In short: you lay your books on their sides in piles."   

 What it says about you: "You have a what will be will be approach to life, and don't believe in too much order. You may also have a small taste for danger." 

So...which of the above bookshelf tribes do you belong to!?